Just a Nightmare
by kiboutoyume
Summary: Phoenix has a disturbing nightmare and calls Edgeworth to talk about it.


Phoenix Wright walked through the large, heavy doors of the courtroom as he had done many times before, ready to defend his client, ready to present all the evidence he needed to get a "not guilty" verdict.

But he was completely unprepared for what he saw when he stepped inside.

Phoenix immediately noticed the large puddle of blood he found himself standing in. His eyes widened and his gaze darted all around the room. The courtroom was empty, however. No one was there; not the judge, not the jury, not even Edgeworth, who Phoenix knew was the prosecuting attorney for this case. It was dead silent.

Phoenix began to feel his stomach churn as he noticed a trail of blood and what looked like one set of bloodied footprints leading away from the puddle. As if the sheer amount of blood wasn't frightening enough, the trail led from where Phoenix was standing to where Edgeworth would always stand during a trial.

_Edgeworth_…

Managing to will his body to move, Phoenix ran alongside the crimson trail, just barely remembering to keep his footprints far enough away from the original ones to not ruin the evidence. It took him a few seconds before he saw it: Edgeworth's body lying in an unnatural position on the floor, his clothing soaked with blood.

"_Edgeworth!!_"

Phoenix awoke with a start, his eyes opening as his body jumped slightly. Working to breathe properly again, Phoenix looked around his bedroom, making sure there was no blood in sight._ A nightmare? _Phoenix's heart was pounding so hard, he almost couldn't believe that it had just been a bad dream.

His hand found its way to the phone next to his bed, and part of Phoenix protested as he dialed Edgeworth's number. However, the part that was afraid for the prosecutor's life was far stronger than Phoenix's rational side at that moment.

Phoenix exhaled as the phone rang once, twice, three times. In the middle of the fourth ring, the phone was picked up, and the defense attorney heard a low, groggy voice answer, "Hello?"

Phoenix's heart almost skipped a beat. That was him, wasn't it? "Edgeworth?" he asked, sounding more tired than he thought and his voice breaking slightly at the end of the word.

"Wright?" the deep voice on the other end of the line responded, sounding confused and a little irritated. "What do you want?"

Hearing the other man's voice comforted Phoenix greatly, allowing him to breathe freely again. However, with his worries gone, his rational side took over again and he suddenly felt like he did whenever he presented the wrong evidence in court. "Ah, it's just… I…"

"You better have a good reason for waking me up at three in the morning." Edgeworth definitely sounded less than pleased.

"I had a nightmare," Phoenix confessed a little sheepishly, deciding to tell the truth. "You were… something really bad had happened to you."

In the pause that followed, Phoenix could almost envision Edgeworth blinking and thinking his words over. Before the other could say anything, Phoenix added in a small voice, "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Well," Edgeworth paused, sounding as though he wasn't sure what to make of the situation. "I'm fine, Wright."

Phoenix found himself smiling in relief. "I'm glad," he said, and his rational thought told him he was going to feel very embarrassed about this when he woke up again.

"Was that all you called for?" Edgeworth asked after a moment.

"Yeah," Phoenix replied. "I'm, uh… sorry I woke you up."

"It's… fine. Just don't… worry about that sort of thing, Wright. It's just a nightmare, nothing more," Edgeworth said, his voice suddenly a lot softer. "Or have you forgotten what you proved to me at that trial?"

"I remember," Phoenix nodded and shifted in his bed, convinced he was calm enough to fall asleep again.

"Good. Now go to sleep," Edgeworth commanded, following his words with a poorly suppressed yawn.

"Thanks, Edgeworth," Phoenix practically mumbled, already half-asleep again.

'I'll see you in court' were the last words Phoenix remembered having heard the next morning, briefly puzzled as to why he woke up with the phone still in his hand.


End file.
